


Floodgates

by xenosaurus



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Background Relationships, Bisexual Character, Child Abuse, Developing Relationship, Friendship, Gay Character, Lesbian Character, M/M, On Hiatus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-11-14 19:37:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 16,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11214867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenosaurus/pseuds/xenosaurus
Summary: All his life, Yusuke has been taught to avoid water.  Then his crush invites him night swimming.He says yes.(On Hiatus)





	1. Yusuke

**Author's Note:**

> Now with art by effishient!! [x](https://effishient.tumblr.com/post/162349421025/inspired-by-xenosauruss-floodgates-i-drew-this)

Yusuke is capable of finishing a shower in two minutes and twelve seconds.

In that time, he can wash his hair, his face and get a good lather going for the rest of his body. It requires some haste, but it's worth it.

Once that's done, he tilts his head back and lets the water pour over his face. He breathes deep, opening his mouth and eyes under the spray. It stings his eyes until it _doesn't_ , and in that moment, Yusuke is at peace.

He doesn't worry, he doesn't feel sick. He is one with the universe.

Madarame's egg timer goes off.

Yusuke turns off the water.

He dries himself with a towel, taking special care with his hair. When he's done, he grabs a q-tip off the counter and carefully dries his ears, double-checks for water in his bellybutton.

The hair dryer is a necessary evil, and Yusuke steels himself before blowdrying the last of the moisture from his hair. The hot air feels evil against his skin. 

He takes one last mournful look at the shower and walks out into the kitchen. There's steamed rice and dried mackerel laid out for him, and Yusuke is hungry, but he doesn't head straight there. Instead, he walks over to the kitchen counter, where Madarame is preparing his own breakfast. It's far more elaborate than Yusuke's.

"Hand out," Madarame says, in lieu of a greeting. He doesn't even look up, just grabs the collector off the windowsill. It's a medical device, made of metal and hard plastic, with an opening in the side.

Yusuke knows better than to sigh. He doesn't say anything at all. He just holds out his hand. Madarame grabs it firmly and inserts Yusuke's finger into the device. Yusuke doesn't flinch when Madarame presses the button, even though it pushes a needle into his finger.

Yusuke could do this in his sleep.

Shower. Dry off. Let Madarame take blood. Eat breakfast. Wait for the update on his blood percentages.

Madarame has explained Yusuke's illness any number of times, but Yusuke still has no idea what the numbers mean. Sometimes he thinks their meaning might be changing.

"Your water's high. How long did you stay in the shower?"

Madarame is straight to the point, and he looks Yusuke right in the eye. Yusuke feels a little thrill of fear.

"Five minutes exactly. I turned it off as soon as the timer dinged."

He does his best to keep the regret out of his voice.

"The rain yesterday. Did you stay out of it?"

Yusuke swallows hard. He's a terrible liar.

"I-- got caught up in it. Briefly."

Madarame slams a hand down on the counter. Yusuke jumps very slightly, even though he'd been expecting it. The noise always gets to him.

"Yusuke, we have been _over_ this! You need to limit your exposure to water!"

Yusuke stares at the floor. The kitchen tiling is done in a soft blue, too pale to capture the ocean's depth.

Madarame grabs him by the chin and physically forces Yusuke to meet his eye. Yusuke's hands are shaking.

"Do you understand me? This is for _your_ health. I do enough for you without you sabotaging my efforts!"

Yusuke swallows. His eyes ache with unshed tears.

". . . Yes, Father."

Madarame lets go of his face. Yusuke immediately takes a step back, instinctively seeking distance.

"Get ready for school. And bring your damn umbrella."

Madarame storms out of the kitchen, bringing the collector with him. He'll do more advanced tests while Yusuke is at class, to make sure that Yusuke hasn't actually damaged himself.

Still, once his father is out of the room, Yusuke nearly collapses into his chair. He barely tastes breakfast, and he doesn't find Madarame to say goodbye before he leaves. There's no point; when Madarame is locked in the study, either to test Yusuke's blood or to working on his art, he won't reply to a word Yusuke says.

School is better. His uniform itches and he isn't terribly engaged in his classes, but he's been truly blessed this year.

He sits next to Akira Kurusu. There must be a god out there somewhere, looking out for him, because this is everything he'd been hoping for going into his last year of high school.

Halfway through their morning lecture, the teacher goes on a tangent about how lazy young people are. Akira catches Yusuke's gaze, grins, and rolls his eyes. Yusuke smiles back, and floats on that euphoria until lunch time.

This, of course, presents a new challenge.

Akira does not lack for friends. In their class is Yuuki Mishima and Ann Takamaki, both of whom beeline to him as soon as they're allowed to stand. Ann is the sort of girl that, had he been interested in women, Yusuke thinks he might have liked. She's got the type of beauty that seems like a force of nature, and a personality to match. Mishima is a different story-- he's accidentally rude or awkward more often than not, and hangs on Akira's every word. Yusuke doesn't like him much.

They're joined quickly by the other two members of their group, Ryuji Sakamoto and Shiho Suzui. Shiho is quick to insult but slow to actual anger, and rumor says that her relationship with Ann is more than platonic. Yusuke isn't sure if he believes this, but they _do_ seem rather close. Ryuji is Akira's loud and vulgar best friend, but he irks Yusuke a lot less than Mishima, for some reason.

Sometimes, Yusuke talks to them. Not as much as he'd like to, but they're an intimidating group to try to join. They're been pretty insular ever since their first year. Yusuke doesn't know much about what happened to cause it, only that it involved the gym teacher going to jail. He's exempt from gym, as part of the effort to help him avoid pools and unnecessary showers.

Today, though, he turns his chair to join their impromptu circle.

"Working on your antisocial problem today, Yusuke?" Shiho asks. She's already arrived, and is seated on top of Ann's desk, her legs hanging off the side. "You and Yuuki should share tips."

"H-hey!" Mishima protests. "I'm plenty social!"

"We're all antisocial, don't you start," Akira says, poking Shiho with one of his chopsticks. It's barely a gesture of support, and he might be defending Mishima, but it makes Yusuke smile anyways.

"I suppose we're all in the same boat, then," Yusuke says, hoping that was the right thing to say. It makes Akira smile, so maybe it was.

"You should sit with us more often," Ann says, trying to open her overly-sealed bento box without using her nails. After ten seconds of watching her struggle, Ryuji takes it from her.

"This is why you need a man--"

Before he can actually get the box open, Shiho grabs it and pries it open.

"You were saying?"

Ann laughs and accepts the bento box when it's passed back over to her. Her fingers linger on Shiho's for a moment longer then she needs to. Yusuke catches Shiho's eye and smiles. A look of understanding passing between them, unspoken.

"You know what, I agree. Yusuke should hang out with us more often. Hey, are you free on Saturday night?" Shiho asks.

"Ah, yes, yes I am," Yusuke says, not mentioning that he is pretty much always free.

"You're alright with inviting him?" Akira asks, but he sounds pretty into the idea.

"Sure, he's cool," Shiho responds. Yusuke feels astoundingly proud of that.

Akira glances over at where the teacher is still sitting at her desk. Yusuke wonders if whatever they're planning isn't strictly legal. Akira's friends have somewhat of a reputation.

"Can I have your contact information? I'll fill you in on the details," Akira offers, holding out his phone.

Yusuke scrambles to get his phone out of his pocket. He doesn't care how illegal their plans are.

He is _in_.


	2. Akira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way this AU is structured changes Yusuke's last name to Madarame and Futaba's to Isshiki. I know it's confusing, I'm very sorry.

"I can't believe you did that," Akira groans.

"I can't believe you let me beat you to it! This is a perfect opportunity!" Shiho fires back, unrepentant. She's laid out on Akira's bedroom floor, her head in Ann's lap. She's taken her hair out of the ponytail so that her girlfriend can run her fingers through it. It's a very serene display, totally at odds with Shiho's actual part in the conversation.

"You should be thanking her," Futaba says, looking up from the video game she's destroying Ryuji and Mishima at. "You should've made a move weeks ago."

"Dammit, you're totally cheating!" Ryuji protests, paying more attention to the game than Futaba is and still losing. Akira is entirely unsurprised.

"I'm not cheating, you just suck!"

"What if he's not gay?" Mishima asks, dropping his controller entirely. His defeat had been virtually guaranteed the moment Futaba dumped her bag on Akira's bed and picked up a controller.

"Oh, he's gay," Shiho says. "Or at least bi. We had a moment."

Akira tried not to hope too hard.

"Shiho's always right about things like this," Ann says. Shiho turns her head to the side enough to catch one of Ann's hands and gives her knuckles a kiss. Akira can't help but smile. It's nice to see them relaxed and affectionate.

"So you guessed Ann and Akira. Big deal," Ryuji complains. "Akira came out to me the third time we hung out, and Ann is your best friend. You had an advantage for both."

"Excuse you, I was promoted to best friend when Ann landed the girlfriend position," Futaba boasts. The television is now displaying the game's victory screen. Futaba is the undisputed winner.

"And here I thought we had something special, Futaba," Akira says, grinning at her. Regardless of labels, they really do. Akira's foster father is best friends with Futaba's mother. They've basically lived in each other’s pockets since Akira was eight.

"Don't give me that! You already replaced me with Ryuji, you traitor!”

"He won't snitch on us, right?" Mishima asks, nervously. He’s always uncomfortable with the ongoing best friends debate, which makes Akira feel kind of bad.

“You really think someone wants to hang out with us just to get us in trouble?” Ann asks.

“I can hack his phone, if it’d make you feel better,” Futaba offers, opening a bag of snacks. Ryuji leans into her space to try to steal some and Futaba slaps his hand away. “Get your own, Ryuji.”

“Those are Akira’s!”

“Finders keepers, loser,” Futaba shoots back, hugging the bag to her chest. Akira ignores the plaintive look Ryuji shoots him. Best friends or not, he’s not getting involved in another fight over snacks. Sojiro supplies them anyways, which means they’re probably as much Futaba’s as they are his own.

“You don’t have to break any cyber security laws. Nobody ever tells on Akira, he’s too pretty.”

Akira snorts.

“Thank you, Shiho.”

“Don’t mention it,” Shiho says, holding out her hands to Futaba, who immediately drops some of the snacks into her open hands.

“Hey!” Ryuji protests.

“Maybe when you can beat me at Frog Fighters, I’ll consider sharing my spoils with you.”

“Shiho doesn’t even play this game!”

“Yeah, but I do,” Ann says, taking one of the snacks out of her girlfriend’s hands.

“Ann _destroys_ at this game. Even I have no hope of defeating her,” Futaba says solemnly.

“And what’s hers is mine,” Shiho says, smirking.

“You aren’t married, dammit!”

“Can we get back to the topic at hand?” Mishima pleads, still worried about their plans. After two years of hanging out with this chaotic nonsense of a social circle, he’s still the only one who tries to stay on topic.

“It’s just night swimming, it doesn’t have a time limit,” Akira says. “If he isn’t into it, we’ll just do it on a different day.”

He hopes that won’t be the case. Inducting Yusuke Madarame into their plans would mean he’d get to see him regularly, outside of school.

“So text him already!” Futaba shouts.

“You might as well,” Ann says, smiling sympathetically. Akira sighs and pulls out his phone.

“Fine, fine, everyone relax.”

 **Akira:** We’re going to go for a swim in the school pool tomorrow night.  
**Akira:** You in?


	3. Yusuke

**Akira:** We’re going to go for a swim in the school pool tomorrow night.  
**Akira:** You in?

Yusuke stares at the text messages for an absurdly long time. He knows what the right answer is. The right answer is _no_. He should wait until he gets another invite that doesn't involve a large body of water.

But he thinks about all that cool, lovely water. He thinks about Akira in a swimsuit, shirtless and smiling at him.

 **Yusuke:** Absolutely.  
**Yusuke:** When are we meeting?  
**Yusuke:** And where?

Three dots appear almost immediately. Yusuke's heart pounds.

 **Akira:** Outside of the school gates, at 9pm.  
**Akira:** Wear your swimsuit, we probably can't get into the locker rooms.

Well, that raises a new issue.

 **Yusuke:** I don't own a swimsuit.

That's going to be the end of it. Yusuke isn't a real member of their group, of course they won't still want him there if he can't even participate in the--

 **Akira:** You can borrow one of mine, if you're okay with horrendous color schemes.  
**Akira:** My childhood friend thinks it's funny to talk my dad into buying me weird things.

The three dots come up again, then stop, then start again, then stop again. Finally, he receives an image attachment from a different number entirely.

It's a picture of Akira on the beach, the slightest hint of sunburn decorating his shoulders. His swimsuit is, indeed, rather weird. It's adorned with three wolves, howling up at an over-sized moon that's positioned in such a way that it's directly over Akira's groin. He's got his arm around an unfamiliar girl's shoulders, but there's a distinctly familial vibe between them.

Yusuke immediately saves it to his phone.

 **Unknown Number:** You're welcome  >:D

 **Akira:** She's cackling, what did she just send you?  
**Yusuke:** Ah. The sender is the girl in the photo, then?  
**Yusuke:** Vacation photos.  
**Akira:** Goddammit.  
**Akira:** It's the three wolf moon swimsuit, isn't it.  
**Yusuke:** That is a possible description of what I'm looking at, yes.  
**Akira:** You don't have to wear that one.  
**Akira:** I have at least one regular one.  
**Yusuke:** It is kind of you to be willing to share in the first place. Thank you.  
**Akira:** Don't sweat it. Come home with me tomorrow, we'll get you set up.

School the next day is torture. Yusuke can't focus at all. He's absolutely preoccupied with the idea that tonight he'll be going _swimming_ , and with Akira, at that. The fact that he doesn't know _how_ to swim doesn't actually occur to him until he's meeting with Akira outside their classroom at the end of the day.

"As a heads up, my cat only likes Ann, so don't be offended if he doesn't want anything to do with you," Akira says, as they walk to the train station. Even though Akira walks home with at least one of his friends every day, they're alone today. Yusuke decides not to look at gift horse in the mouth, although he is curious about why Ann giggled when she waved goodbye. She must be excited about tonight.

"My feelings will survive intact," Yusuke promises. He can't imagine a universe where a cat would ruin this day.

Akira laughs and _god_ that smile. Something in Yusuke's chest trembles.

He opens his mouth to talk and surprises himself with a soft, musical sound. It's three notes, in a pattern Yusuke used to hum to himself when he splashed around in puddles as a child. It feels a bit like laughing, but fluttery and reaching further into his chest.

"What was that?" Akira asks, but there's no judgement to it. He sounds a little bit awed, although that can't possibly by the correct reading of the situation.

"Oh. I'm... not entirely sure."

"It was pretty," Akira says, smiling. "I didn't know you sang."

"I don't. Not in any serious sense."

"Well, you have the voice for it, if you ever want to try. That was something else."

Madarame used to tell Yusuke off for humming when he was happy. It's a weird feeling to have it acknowledged in such a positive sense.

Akira's family lives above the cafe they run, which Yusuke had some idea of from conversations he'd overheard. It isn't until they get off the train that Yusuke realizes how close they are to the river. He can taste it in the back of his throat. He likes Leblanc even before they reach it.

"I'm home!" Akira calls into the mostly-empty cafe as they walk inside. A man who must be his father is behind the counter, drying some glasses.

"What, no Ryuji today?" The man asks, giving Yusuke a once-over. "Who's this?"

"Yusuke Madarame. He's a classmate."

"Hello, sir," Yusuke says, defaulting to maximum politeness. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Don't bother with the formalities, kid. You're already doing better than most of the rest of his friends."

"I'm telling Futaba you said that," Akira says, grinning.

"Go ahead. She'll bring it back to Wakaba as a badge of honor. Now, go feed your stupid cat. He's been yowling at nothing for the past hour."

As if on cue, a loud meow drifts down the stairs. Akira snorts.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Come on, Yusuke, I'll introduce you to Morgana."

Morgana doesn't like Yusuke any more than Akira had predicted. He watches him from on top of the kitchen counter while Akira opens some canned food, tail lashing.

"So I was serious about having a regular swimsuit for you. Apart from that wolf travesty and the one with the creepy watermelon mascot, I do have a plain blue one."

"Watermelon?"

"Look, the less said about that the better. I honestly prefer the wolf one to the watermelon mascot."

They head to Akira's room after that, trailed by Morgana, who still refuses to let Yusuke pet him. Akira's room is small but fairly nice. There are glow in the dark stars hung from the ceiling, and the plain wooden walls are decorated with movie posters across a variety of genres. He has a collection of cute monster plushies on display by the window, and a few Featherman figurines, the type that come out of blind bags. For some reason he also has one of the resin ramen bowls they use to advertise restaurants, but Yusuke decides not to question that. The video game system hooked up to the TV is old enough to qualify as retro, and the round blue carpet on the floor is dotted with old food stains.

It's cozy. Yusuke thinks he'd like to take a nap here.

When Akira takes Yusuke to his close to grab the swimsuits, Yusuke does get a good look at the watermelon mascot. He agrees with Akira. It's disturbing.

Still, he would wear whatever swimsuit he had to for tonight. It would be worth it.


	4. Yusuke

Yusuke spends the rest of the afternoon in Leblanc, drinking coffee with Akira. There's a drama on the television, which Akira has apparently been making some effort to follow. Watching him tell off the characters on the screen for cheating on their girlfriends is rather endearing, although Yusuke does have to ask a lot of questions. He keeps getting the twin brothers confused.

Oddly, Akira's dad seems to know about as much as Akira does.

"Yeah, some customers had us turn it on every day for a week and we got hooked. It's trash, but I'm invested now," Akira admits, while they're walking to their meetup spot.

"Has that one woman really had four affairs?"

"Five, if you count the time she accidentally slept with Koichiro's twin brother."

"The one with the huge scar?"

"That's how he got the scar."

"Oh."

Shortly after the conversation departs from Akira's bizarre taste in television, the rest of the group comes into view. It's Akira's friends from school, along with the redhead from the beach photo.

"Yusuke, this is Futaba Isshiki. We grew up together."

The girl grins. This close, Yusuke can see how _tiny_ she is.

"Yep! His dad's totally got the hots for my mom, so we hang out a lot."

"Do you have to phrase it like that?" Akira asks, sighing. His expression is at odds with the words, though. He's smiling at her.

"Sure do!" Futaba chirps back. "In Sojiro's perfect world, we're siblings."

Yusuke isn't quite sure what to do with this girl.

"Well. It's lovely to meet Akira's... not-sister?" Yusuke says, which makes Akira exhale a little laugh. Yusuke is far too proud of that.

"Do we have to do this routine _every_ time we bring a new person anywhere?" Ryuji complains. Ann elbows him.

"Ow! What was that for!"

"Don't worry about him, Yusuke. He's just jealous that he doesn't have any other friends to invite along," Shiho says, which immediately triggers some kind of bizarre mock fight between her and Ryuji. Yusuke can't follow it at all, but Mishima looks two steps away from taking notes.

"Well, this is stupid. Let's go swimming already!" Futaba complains, wrapping her arms around one of Shiho's to pull her away from whatever weird game they're playing.

"I'm with Futaba, we can mess around once we're not in plain view," Akira says, in a tone that says this is a common statement.

After this, they all crowd around the outside door to the swimming pool. Yusuke wonders if they've stolen a key for a brief moment, until Akira starts picking the lock. He makes it look easy, and Yusuke wonders how often he does this.

It shouldn't make him buzz with attraction to watch this, but it _does_. Akira is competent and his fingers are clearly precision instruments. Yusuke's thoughts run away with that observation.

The lock doesn't last much longer than Yusuke's concentration did. Ryuji claps Akira on the shoulder when he presents the newly removed lock.

As soon as they've got the door closed behind them, people start stripping out of their clothes. Ryuji gets caught in his t-shirt, which prompts laughter from all three of the girls until Akira comes over to rescue him. Shiho dutifully holds up a towel to protect Ann and Futaba while they change, to avoid any wardrobe malfunctions. Ryuji and Mishima pretend not to be disappointed, but Akira is barely paying attention to them.

Yusuke isn't paying the girls much mind, either. He's hypnotized by Akira pulling his shirt over his head, unbuckling his belt. He's staring. He can't help it.

"Hey, Yusuke! You gonna go swimming in your clothes or what?" Futaba shouts, already in her own frilly bathing suit. It's the same one from the vacation photos.

Shaken out of his trance, Yusuke hurries to strip down to the bathing suit Akira had lent him. He'd swapped it for his boxers in the bathroom at Akira's apartment.

"Aw, _neither_ of you are wearing Watermelon-sama?" Futaba complains. Ann shudders.

"Where do you even find merchandise of that creepy thing?" She asks. Futaba fakes offense.

"That _thing_ is the best representation of my soul I've ever found."

"We know you're lying," Mishima says, frowning. Yusuke missed him changing into his bathing suit entirely, too entranced by Akira's display.

"I hope you're aware of what you've just done," Ann says. Mishima barely has time to make a noise of confusion before Futaba pushes him into the water.

"Wait for me!" Ryuji shouts, jumping in after him. Yusuke notices the mischievous glance Shiho gives Ann just before she grabs her around the waist.

"Shiho!!" Ann protests as the other girl pulls her into the water along with her, laughing the whole way down. They come back up quickly, Shiho laughing and Ann shouting.

"It's _cold_!" Ann says.

"Don't be a baby!" Ryuji calls back from across the pool.

Before this can devolve into _another_ argument, Futaba cannonballs into the deep end, splashing Ryuji in the face. While he's sputtering, Yusuke realizes that he and Akira are the only ones left outside of the water.

Akira chooses to take the stairs down into the water, and turns to hold out a hand for Yusuke once he's in up to his waist.

"Coming?" He asks, smiling. Yusuke takes his hand and follows him in.

The cold water is instant relief against his skin. Ann's protests about the chill seem bizarre. This feels _amazing_ , almost a religious experience. Akira's hand, damp around his own, makes it even better. Yusuke feels the song rise in his throat more than he hears it. He's humming.

Akira doesn't step back enough from the stairs as Yusuke comes down, seemingly startled by the music. It brings them face to face, their noses almost touching. The water laps softly at Yusuke's navel and he admires Akira's eyelashes. There's splashing and shouting from the others in the deep end, but Yusuke tunes it out entirely. This moment is life, cool and easy and _perfect_.

The hum opens up into something more like real singing.

Suddenly overtaken by energy and animal joy, Yusuke does something impulsive.

And Akira kisses him back. The shouting melts away. His skin tingles, and he can feel the water rushing underneath it.

Akira pulls out of the kiss, beaming. For a brief moment, everything is fine.

And then Yusuke realizes he can't hear. The water under his skin pressurizes and turns hot. His stomach lurches and his vision fades. He can taste blood.

He loses his footing and the water comes up to meet him.


	5. Akira

Akira's evening is going amazingly well right up until the exact moment that it isn't.

He spent the afternoon with the boy he likes, and Sojiro was cooperative, not asking too many questions or trying to embarrass him like Futaba had. Yusuke seemed interested in the ridiculous drama Akira always watches instead of being bored by it.

Then they got into the school pool in record time. Akira is glad he practiced his lock picking, because Yusuke looked genuinely impressed. Having to wear one of the stupid swimsuits Futaba keeps forcing on him is totally worth it for the look on Yusuke's face as he follows Akira into the water.

He hadn't figured Yusuke would be so bold, but the kiss is possibly the best thing that's ever happened to him.

Except that it's followed by the _worst_ thing that's happened to him since his parents died.

At first, Akira thinks Yusuke is just dazed. God, _Akira_ definitely is. But then his eyes unfocus, his breathing stops, and Akira isn't fast enough to catch him before he goes under the water. He's close enough to immediately grab him when he goes under, but the damage has, apparently, been done.

It's hard to put words to what's happening in front of him. Yusuke starts clawing at his own stomach and hips, and then there's a horrific rip-snap sound. The water foams around them like someone had poured shaving cream into it. The rest of the group is no longer shouting in delight, but in distress. If it wasn't for their response, Akira would think he was imagining things.

It stops as suddenly as it began, and the bubbles slowly disperse, either popping or drifting off as Akira's friends crowd around, disturbing the water.

"Holy _shit_ ," Ryuji says, which Akira distantly thinks is the appropriate response. Yusuke is... _different_.

His skin has developed a series of reddish-orange, white and black spots, almost like freckles. There aren't many of them on his face, but they're more liberally placed on his shoulders and the distribution gets thicker as they go down his stomach and back. Under the water, the color of his skin gives way entirely, shifting into white with patches of orange and speckles of black as they reach--

his _tail_.

Because that's the biggest change. Yusuke's legs have vanished, replaced with a long, delicately-frilled fish tail. The fin at the bottom is brushing against Akira's legs. It feels like gauzy lace more than skin.

"Yusuke?" Akira asks, frantically. He's holding his friend's top half out of the water, but he seems to be waking up only now. When he opens his eyes, Akira can see a clear film pull away, like a contact lens being retracted back under his eyelids.

The tail swishes under the water.

"What made-for-TV movie are we _in_ right now?" Futaba asks, a hint of hysteria in her voice. From the sound of things, Mishima is hyperventilating. Ann comes up next to Akira to help him support Yusuke, who is still blinking at Akira in confusion. Akira can't place Shiho without looking up.

Yusuke makes that soft humming sound again, then clears his throat twice.

"...Akira?"

Yusuke's voice sounds different too. It's clearly still him, but it sounds like it's been through some kind of filter, making it almost musical. More than that, now that his mouth is open, Akira can see that his teeth are sharper, like a mouth full of canines.

"Do you-- feel okay?" Akira asks, forcing himself to remain calm.

"What the hell is happening?!" Ryuji shouts from behind him. There's a wet slapping sound, and then Shiho's voice.

"Shut up," She hisses, which Akira appreciates massively. Yusuke blinks at him a bit more.

"I feel... really good, actually. Thank you for asking."

Akira wants to laugh, because this is _too_ absurd. Yusuke's tail is still touching his legs.

"You're-- do you know what just happened?" Ann asks, managing 'calm' better than Ryuji but not by much.

"I... kissed Akira."

"And apparently you're a magical frog prince or something because it turned you into a mermaid!" Futaba says, and Akira has to take a deep breath to steady himself. Leave it to her to spell it out for them.

"It did wh--" Yusuke starts, but then he looks down. His eyes go wide.

He stares at his tail. Glances up at Akira. Stares at his tail. Swallows hard.

"I... believe my father may have lied about my medical condition."


	6. Yusuke

Yusuke doesn't think he's ever felt better.

It's like he's gone from barely breathing to an oxygen high. His skin tingles pleasantly. His joints move butter-smooth. An ache he hadn't even noticed is gone from his bones.

He feels _amazing_.

He's also rather dazed. The oxygen high metaphor wasn't as much of a metaphor as he'd assumed. He kissed a boy! He got into the water!

He has a _tail_. That one is pretty hard to digest. Even so, he can't help the soft song that comes from his chest, even as he struggles to put together what his father has told him and what his senses are telling him.

"What medical condition does _this_?" Mishima asks, hysterical. He's peering nervously at Yusuke from over Akira's shoulder.

"I was led to believe that too much exposure to water would cause the proteins in my blood--"

"Yeah, I'm calling bullshit on that, whatever it is," Ryuji says.

"Are we sure this isn't some kind of-- group hallucination, or something?" Shiho asks.

"Yeah, is the tail real?" Ann asks.

"Someone touch it!" Futaba demands, crowding in closer. Akira frowns at her.

"It's already touching me, it's real," He says, taking one arm off of Yusuke to shoo her away. Ryuji swears loudly. Shiho tells him to shut up again.

"It is?" Yusuke asks. It occurs to him that he can't actually feel the contact himself.

"Yeah, the... frilly part is brushing against my legs," Akira says, hesitantly. He's still holding Yusuke, like he thinks if he lets go, Yusuke will fall back under the water. Yusuke isn't sure that he's wrong. He literally doesn't have legs to stand on anymore.

Yusuke tries moving the tail. It isn't nearly as hard as he'd expected, and he feels it this time when the more solid parts bump against Akira's shins. It's a bizarre but somehow natural sensation, as though he'd grown a third arm that he could use as easily as the others.

"Oh my god it moved oh my god oh my--"

"Yuuki!" Shiho snaps. Mishima stops talking.

Akira takes a deep breath.

"Alright. Let's stay calm. Yusuke, you're breathing, right? Air?"

Yusuke frowns.

"Of course. Why do you ask?"

"Because that means if we take you out of the water you won't suffocate," Akira explains. It's a good point, but Yusuke recoils from the idea of getting out of the water. Even now that the initial rush is wearing off, he still feels fantastic.

"Why do I have to leave the water?"

"You can't be serious," Shiho says. "We can't just leave you in here!"

"Yeah, dude, the school would find you and call the news or whatever," Ryuji adds.

"We should take him to Akira's, Sojiro didn't say a word to the police during the Kamoshida thing," Futaba suggests. It takes Yusuke a moment to remember who or what Kamoshida is.

"Ah, I was wondering about that--"

"I'll tell you later," Akira promises. "Lets get you out of the water."

Yusuke sulks a little while the rest of the group discusses how to physically remove him from the pool. Distantly, he's pretty sure he should be freaking out like everyone else, but he's saturated in endorphins. Getting _out_ of the water feels like a suggestion along the lines of 'why don't you put your hand on the stovetop'.

They come to the conclusion that they're going to carry him up the stairs, with Ryuji and Mishima doing the actual lifting. There's some debate about physical strength that revolves around Shiho beating Mishima at arm wrestling, but Yusuke isn't really listening. He's focused on the cool water, the way it moves in time with the people in it. Akira's arms around him aren't doing much to keep him focused either.

"Wait," Yusuke says, when the boys actually come to retrieve him from Akira. "Can I... I'd like to try swimming first."

A lot of glances are exchanged between the group. It takes Yusuke a moment, but he realizes most of them are looking to Akira for guidance.

"It seems unfair to deny you that," Akira says, finally. Yusuke's heart leaps.

"If you wouldn't mind letting me go, then."

The lighting is exceeding poor in the pool, as they hadn't turned any on, to avoid attracting suspicion. Still, Yusuke thinks he sees a flush rise in Akira's cheeks. A warm hum comes up through Yusuke's chest and emerges as a familiar tune.

"Okay, he keeps doing that, what's with the singing?" Futaba asks.

"I... don't know," Yusuke says, frowning. "I'm not doing it on purpose, I assure you."

"It's always the same song. You were singing it earlier too, before we got in the water," Akira comments. He's only holding Yusuke up with one arm, like he's suddenly embarrassed by the extended embrace they'd be sharing up until now. "And... when you kissed me. I don't know if you noticed, but you made the same noise."

"I did?" Yusuke asks. He hadn't even noticed. Akira turns redder still and nods.

"I believe I used to hum that tune, as a child. The singing is... new. I don't believe it's ever happened in your absence," Yusuke says, mulling it over.

"Okay, musical boners aside, can we get the swimming over with, please? We're all going to get dragged off to some government lab at this rate," Shiho says. Yusuke feels his face heat up at her choice of words.

"Don't even joke about that," Mishima groans. "I was worried enough when we only had to worry about the _school_."

"Nobody's getting expelled and nobody's getting dissected!" Ann says.

"Nobody even brought up dissection!" Ryuji complains.

"We've been watching a lot of X-Folders--" Shiho starts to say, but Yusuke doesn't hear the end of her explanation. He exchanges a glance with Akira, who nods and lets him go. Yusuke sinks under the water, willingly this time, and the bliss of it washes over him. His body knows exactly what to do.

In the next five minutes, Yusuke does eight laps of the pool, discovers he can breathe underwater, and steals occasional glances at Akira. He can see him perfectly even under the water, and he has an odd urge to swim circles around him and sing his heart out.

Crass as Shiho's assessment had been, maybe she was right. Maybe the singing _is_ something amorous in nature.

When he pops his head up out of the water at last, the girls have already gotten out of the pool and are in the process of changing back into their clothes.

"There you are," Akira says. "You're the fastest swimmer I've ever seen."

"He has an unfair advantage," Futaba says. "And, more importantly, does anyone know how we're going to transport a _mermaid_ on public transportation?"

There's a long, uncomfortable silence.

"Looks like we're stealing a wheelchair from the nurse's office," Akira says, sounding resigned.

Yusuke finds he doesn't have any better ideas.


	7. Akira

Things start to feel real while Yusuke is swimming laps.

He's so elegant that it's hard to deny as a natural thing. Akira has raced Ryuji in the pool before, and Yusuke's happy loops destroy both of their times effortlessly. The little voice in his head insisting this was a prank, or a joke, or _something_ , anything but _mermaids_ is silent now.

Yusuke makes a face of ultimate discontent while Ryuji and Mishima finally drag him out of the water. Shiho, already half-dressed, shouts corrections for their lifting technique. It's such a normal part of Akira's social circle that it's jarring to have in the same room as the magical creature who kissed Akira not twenty minutes ago.

Without the pool water in the way, Akira can get a good look at Yusuke. The frills are limp out of the water, cascading like waterfalls from the edges of his tail. The contrast between the white, orange and speckles of black reminds Akira of a koi fish, and the gradient between skin and scale at his hips is so gradual that Akira could look all day, just trying to determine where the divide is.

Akira steps out of the water to get a closer look and is immediately presented with his clothes. Futaba looks one step away from smacking him in the face with his shirt.

"Come on, lover boy, we have locks to pick and a nurse's office to raid, chop chop," She says. Akira wonders how intently he'd been staring at Yusuke to get that reaction from her.

Ann and Shiho, back in their clothes and squeezing water from their hair, donate their towels to the efforts to dry Yusuke off. Akira briefly considers sticking around to help, but Futaba's right. He's the only one who can pick locks well enough to get into the nurse's office.

"I'll be back soon, Yusuke," Akira promises, and gets a small smile for his efforts. He rubs at the back of his neck when he smiles back, and Yusuke makes that musical sound again.

"Boys, chill," Shiho says, while Futaba rolls her eyes.

It hurts to leave Yusuke, even in the mostly-capable hands of his friends. Futaba is insistent, though, and she has a point. They need to get Yusuke somewhere safer than the school pool they illegally broke into.

If Akira was being honest, he'd admit that breaking and entering is _fun_. The excited grin on Futaba's face brings him back to being nine years old, still shy and sad after the loss of his parents. She had pulled him out of that better than anyone else, poking and prodding him until he agreed to participate in her complicated plans to steal snacks from high cabinets. They used to call themselves super spies. Sojiro called them 'the thieves'. Sometimes, he still does.

"Remember all the times we broke in here when we were taking down coach asshole?" Futaba says, while Akira picks the lock. She always seems to sense when he's feeling nostalgic or melancholy, and pulls it back up into stories of victory.

"Remember all the times we nearly got _arrested_ for breaking in here?" Akira counters, which makes Futaba snort a laugh.

"As if. You sound like Yuuki, we totally covered our tracks"

"Yuuki usually has a point, you know," Akira says, as the lock clicks. Futaba high fives him just before they push the door open.

They stay quiet as they walk through the halls to the nurse's office. They don't really have to, because there are no guards and no cameras, but it still feels wrong to talk when you're sneaking through a building you just broke into.

There's another lock to pick to get into the nurse's office, but Futaba watches this one with far less interest.

"Think we should steal whatever they think they have to lock the door to keep us from stealing?" She asks, once they're in.

"Probably painkillers, and no," Akira says, grabbing a blanket off one of the cots and slinging it over his shoulder. They'll need it to keep people from seeing Yusuke's tail on the train.

"Can you imagine the announcements Monday morning? Someone broke in, stole a wheelchair and a blanket but no drugs, then left."

"They'll probably still lecture us about not getting hooked on drugs."

Futaba laughs and follows Akira back out into the hall after he grabs the wheelchair. It's an incredibly basic one that folds up, but it will probably do the job. Better than trying to carry Yusuke home, anyways.

They come back to an odd sight at the pool. Yusuke has been properly dried and is now laying out across the tile like a pin-up model, one arm in the water. Ryuji looks put-upon, Mishima is pacing nervously and the girls are missing entirely.

"Where are Ann and Shiho?" Akira asks, glancing around the room as though they might be hiding in some corner.

"They went to get makeup to hide Yusuke's... freckles? Are they freckles?" Ryuji explains.

"They're scales," Yusuke corrects from the poolside. "They have a smoother texture than the surrounding skin."

He still sounds a little dazed, so Akira goes to sit next to him. It's hard not to be captivated by the tail, or even just by Yusuke being shirtless, but he manages. Checking in on his mental state is more important than how attracted Akira is to him.

"How are you feeling?" He asks, and Yusuke sighs. Before he replies, he splashes in the water with his hand, idly.

"I'm still digesting everything. I don't know what any of this means."

"We can talk about it, if you'd like."

"Why would my father lie about this? If the secrecy was for my safety, wouldn't it be wiser to tell me, so that I could protect the secret as well?"

"I'm going to be honest, I can't even hazard a guess," Akira admits. Yusuke smiles down at the water.

"I appreciate your honesty," Yusuke says. Akira shifts closer, so Yusuke's shoulder in pressed against his hip. Yusuke makes his musical sound again, and leans his head against Akira's leg.

Before Akira can say anything else, the girls return.

"Alright, Yusuke, come get pretty!" Shiho announces into the dark pool room. Yusuke frowns. So does Akira, though likely for different reasons. Akira thinks Yusuke is _gorgeous_ , the sheen of the scales only adding more charm to his already-lovely face. Yusuke probably just doesn't want to be pulled away from the water again.

Ann talks Yusuke into putting his shirt back on, and Ryuji thrusts Yusuke's pants into Akira's hands.

"I'm not carrying another man's pants," Ryuji explains, once Akira has accepted them.

"We get it, Ryuji, you only like girls," Shiho says, without looking up from dabbing foundation onto Yusuke's cheeks. "Like, damn, me too, you aren't special."

Ryuji makes a loud noise of protest, but it's mostly drowned out by Ann and Akira's laughter. Even Yusuke chuckles a little.

"So the rumors about you and Ann are true, then?" Yusuke asks, managing to make it sound polite instead of deeply nosy. Shiho has moved onto covering his neck.

"Our anniversary is next month," Shiho says, grinning.

"Congratulations," Yusuke says, sincerely. "I'm glad you two found each other."

"Alright, you're my new favorite," Shiho says, turning to look at Ryuji and Mishima. "Step up your game, boys."

"What game?" Mishima asks.

"Enough self-burns! We need to get to the station before the last train, this is taking forever," Futaba complains.

Getting Yusuke's tail tucked into the wheelchair in such a way that it doesn't drag on a floor is another challenge, as is making sure he's wrapped in the blanket well enough that nothing is visible. It takes them almost five minutes to get it right, and the trip to the train station is still a nervous affair.

At least the worst part is over.

Except that it isn't.

Twenty minutes into the train ride, Yusuke makes a sharp, sudden noise of surprise. Akira immediately looks down to check on him.

He's just in time to see the blood seep up through the blanket.


	8. Akira

When Yusuke's body rearranged itself into a tail, it had taken about 15 seconds. It was a terrifying 15 seconds, but then it was over. There was no time for a real reaction.

This time, it's like the whole _world_ has a reaction.

Akira goes into crisis mode the instant he sees the blood, and he watches what happens to Yusuke in slow motion.

Yusuke grits his teeth and curls in on himself. The blood spots the blanket and then, horribly, drips onto the floor. He's trembling and panting and Akira is terrified, his brain buzzing with thoughts of hospitals and tourniquets, _apply pressure to stop the bleeding_ \--

Before Akira can take any action to help, he suddenly, inexplicably goes light headed. His eyes ache like he's crying and his breath catches. He needs to help Yusuke. He needs to protect this beautiful creature. Does he need to get back into the water? Are the people around them a threat?

Akira looks around the train car. There aren't many people on this time of night, but what people there are have immediately taken an interest in what's going on. A heavily made up woman and her date are both approaching them, and after a moment, Akira realizes that both of them are in tears.

"Poor thing... He's so beautiful..." The woman says, her voice quivering with emotion.

Akira steps closer to Yusuke, and to his right, sees Futaba and Mishima do the same. There's no browbeaten nerves to how Mishima is holding himself, and Futaba looks ready to fight with fists instead of plans. Behind them, the rest of the group seem similarly fixated. They're been confronted with dangerous situations before, and Akira remembers their responses in intimate detail. There should be shouting, anger, a closing of the defenses. This is loose and quiet, like a trance.

"We gotta help out, babe. Look at him. We gotta help," The man is mumbling, and he reaches out to pat Yusuke on the head. Yusuke flinches and Akira pulls backwards on the chair to get him out of harm's way.

"Okay, that's enough," Akira says, struggling to keep his voice firm. The strangers keep coming, and the woman makes an odd noise.

"Were you the one who hurt him? You need to get away from him!" She insists, and steps forward to try to push Akira away from the wheelchair. Ann comes to his aid, pushing the woman back. Akira's head aches with a hazy confusion. He looks around the empty train car, ignoring his combative friends and the bizarre strangers.

"Akira?" Yusuke asks, his voice unsteady from pain or exhaustion. It's hard to pin down exactly which.

"We're getting of at the next stop," Akira whispers to him, pushing through the fog in his brain. There are strange urges screaming through his gut, to push Yusuke into water that isn't here or to hide him, to keep him safe--

They feel like compulsions, as opposed to the regular kindness and heroic streak that lead him to help Kamoshida's victims before they became his friends.

The woman's date is looming over Ann like he's going to physically fight her to help these two strangers get to Akira and Yusuke. Ryuji and Shiho have flanked Ann, and it's hard to tell if this is their usual tactic of backing each other up or if they're creating a human shield around Yusuke. Something tells Akira it's the second, and it isn't a good feeling.

The train stops before they get in an altercation.

"Now!" Akira shouts. Shiho shoves the woman to the side and Akira pushes Yusuke's wheelchair out onto the platform. The rest of their group hurries after them and creates a barrier to prevent their assailants from following. The door closes with a ding.

Everyone relaxes, but not entirely. The platform is empty except for their group, but something still feels wrong. Yusuke's body language isn't pained anymore, but the weird hazy feeling in Akira's brain hasn't faded.

"We-- We need to... are you still bleeding?" Akira trips over the words, no longer floating on the adrenalin from the train car. Yusuke lifts up the edge of the blanket to check, then shakes his head.

"It doesn't appear as though I ever was," He says, perplexed and worried. Akira doesn't have the brainpower to process what that might mean.

"Lets... There's a bathroom here. Let's get you clean and you can-- put your pants back on?"

God, it's hard to talk. Akira wants to do more than this. He should be able to move heaven and earth for this boy, to fix _everything_ for him. From the looks of the rest of the group, they're feeling similarly.

"Alright," Yusuke accepts numbly, and lets Akira ferry him over to the mens room. Mishima and Ryuji follow him in, leaving the girls outside as guards.

They take the blanket off of Yusuke's lap and Akira gives him a quick examination. This isn't really how he planned to see Yusuke mostly naked for the first time, but it takes priority over whatever adolescent fantasies he'd been entertaining.

There's no sign of injury whatsoever, in spite of the blood on the inside of Yusuke's thighs. Mishima wordlessly brings over a handful of wet paper towels. Akira hands half of them to Yusuke so he can wash the blood from more intimate areas while Akira gets his lowers legs and feet. Ryuji watches with eagle-eyed concern, completely silent.

It's only once the blanket and paper towels have been thrown away that Akira's head starts to clear. Mishima seems to be feeling it too, staring first at his hands, then at Yusuke, who is in the process of pulling on his pants.

"What just..?"

"Dude, what the hell is going on?" Ryuji chimes in, holding his head. "Ugh, it feels like someone took a belt sander to my brain."

"We need to get back to Leblanc. Now," Akira insists, gently coaxing the exhausted Yusuke back into the wheelchair. He's unsteady on his feet and even without the odd compulsion to do so, Akira still wants to tend to him.

There's a knock on the door, and then Futaba's voice filters in.

"We're going to miss the last train, guys!"

Akira looks down at Yusuke.

"Can you make it back to the cafe?"

Yusuke nods.


	9. Yusuke

If the 10 minutes Yusuke spent in the pool was the _best_ he's ever felt in his life, then the trip back to Leblanc from the train station is undoubtedly the worst. Even the one notable time he threw up in front of a gallery owner hadn't produced this much anxiety and malaise.

It was ridiculous to get caught up in the joy of his new scales. They're gone now, leaving behind a stained school wheelchair, shaky hands and a feeling like someone has scraped the marrow out of his bones. This isn't a dream that he's being allowed to live in. He wants to puzzle out what's going on, but he can't. His head might as well be full of sand for how heavy it feels.

"I really don't mind pushing you," Akira says again. He's still carrying the folded-up wheelchair, and he's made this offer at least three times. The part of Yusuke that's falling asleep standing up wants to accept, but he's reluctant to lean on Akira's help too much.

"It's alright, I can walk," Yusuke says. His voice sounds and _feels_ rough now that the melodic underpinning has gone.

Akira doesn't ask again, but he does hover near Yusuke for the rest of the walk. There's a general aura of exhaustion in the group, like they're all about to fall over, but the eagerness to support and protect isn't limited to Akira. Ryuji is giving Futaba a piggyback ride without a word of complaint.

Yusuke is overwhelmingly relieved when Leblanc comes into view. Akira unlocks the back door to lead them up to the apartment above the cafe. Most of the lights are off.

Once they're inside, a number of things happen in quick succession.

First, Akira's cat emerges from the darkness of the living room with a happy meow. He bypasses Akira, Yusuke and Shiho to wind himself between Ann's legs, tripping her. It causes the next thing, Ryuji walking into Ann and nearly dropping Futaba. It is at this point that Yusuke realizes that Futaba is not merely tired but actually _asleep_.

While they're trying to sort out that mess, as quietly as possible so that they won't wake up Akira's dad, Mishima drops the bag of wet towels onto the floor.

"Pick that up," Sojiro's voice comes from the dimly lit kitchen. Shiho yelps in surprise while Mishima hurries to follow the command.

"Boss! Haha, you're up!" Ann says. Morgana meows loudly for her attention, so she picks him up before the pileup can get any worse.

"Oh, god, Ann, don't try to act--" Ryuji hisses under his breath.

"Don't even start, any of you," Sojiro says, turning on the front hall light. That wakes Futaba up, at least partway, because she moans in complaint and hides her face more thoroughly in Ryuji's shoulder.

"Can I put her down before you chew us out?" Ryuji asks, resigned. Sojiro sighs heavily.

"Fine. Bring her to the living room, we can talk about this there."

Ryuji leads the way into the living room, seemingly able to navigate it in complete darkness. In an absurd, unfitting moment of jealousy, Yusuke wonders how often he sleeps in this apartment. Akira gets the light on the way in.

Once Futaba has been deposited safely on the couch, Sojiro sighs again.

"So what the hell did you kids do this time?"

"Nothing!" Mishima says. Sojiro raises a skeptical eyebrow.

"We broke into the pool."

"Akira!" Shiho protests, clearly surprised.

"Well. That's an unexpected level of honesty," Sojiro says.

"Look... We'll tell you all about it tomorrow, I promise. Things went south pretty quickly."

Sojiro sighs a lot. Yusuke is starting to notice this as a pattern.

"You can't just--"

"Dad. Please."

Sojiro hesitates, then nods and sighs, yet again.

"I take it everyone's sleeping over?" He says, apparently trusting his son. That's almost more mind-blowing to witness than the rest of the day has been.

"If that's okay," Yusuke says, the requirement of politeness overwhelming his desire to curl up on the floor and pass out.

"Well, I'm sure as hell not kicking anyone out. Girls, you can stay in the guest room."

"'s my guest room," Futaba mumbles from her place sprawled out on the couch.

"Alright. Girls, you can stay in _Futaba's_ guest room."

"Yaaay," Futaba says, her voice muffled and monotone. Akira coughs out a little laugh, like he just can't help it. Ann and Shiho collaborate to get their mostly-asleep friend over into the guest room. Morgana is still slung over Ann's shoulder, purring unhelpfully.

"Dibs on the couch!" Ryuji chimes in, which makes Mishima frown. He glances over at Yusuke, then Akira, then back to Yusuke.

"I don't want to sleep on Akira's floor if--"

"I'll move one of the spare futons into the living room," Akira says, cutting him off. Sojiro squints at him suspiciously, but lets it go. The lack of a proper interrogation is baffling.

Yusuke is given the first chance at the bathroom. He's too tired to do much more than relieve himself and make sure they didn't miss any blood back at the train station restroom. By the time that he's done, the girls have completely vanished, and they've dragged a futon for Mishima into the living room. Ryuji has found himself a blanket and looks dangerously close to dozing off right there.

"Where's Sakura-san?" Yusuke asks, glancing around at the remaining members of the group.

"He went to bed," Akira says, passing Yusuke on his way into the bathroom.

It occurs to Yusuke that there really isn't going to be an interrogation tonight. Nobody is going to be punished. They're being given time to sleep on their explanations. Are there really parents like this? What's the catch here?

By the time Akira is out of the bathroom, Ryuji really has fallen asleep. Mishima goes next, and Akira leads Yusuke to his bedroom.

"Would you like to share the bed with me?" Akira asks. Four hours ago, Yusuke would have taken to that idea with hormonal enthusiasm, but he's too exhausted to be horny.

"Yes, please," Yusuke says. Actually getting into the bed and arranging themselves is a complicated affair, riddled with elbows and knees, but in the end, Yusuke finds himself with his head resting on Akira's shoulder, their legs tangled together.

Yusuke falls asleep quickly, worn out from both the day and the two transformations it had contained.

The last thing he's aware of before he's out is Akira gently playing with his hair.


	10. Akira

Akira wakes up alone.

He spends a good five minutes staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out what the hell he ate last night that’s making him dream about _mermaids_. Whatever it was, something is clearly going on, because Morgana didn’t wake him up yowling for breakfast.

Walking into the kitchen immediately dissolves his dream theory.

Sojiro is cooking eggs on the stove. Shiho is hovering by his shoulder, watching him work. Futaba is perched on the kitchen counter, holding Morgana hostage in her arms. The cat doesn’t look happy about it. Ryuji, Mishima and Yusuke are sitting around the table, looking exhausted to varied degrees.

Ann is nowhere to be seen. If Akira knows his sleepover trends, she’s still asleep, and Shiho has threatened to kick anyone who wakes her up.

The presence of Yusuke means that last night actually _happened_ , and that he’s about to have to explain it to Sojiro.

Akira makes eye contact with his… crush? friend? boyfriend? They’ll have to talk about this too. Yusuke sings his little song in greeting, then flushes. Looks like that wasn’t entirely voluntary.

“Dude,” Ryuji says simply, and Akira honestly can’t tell if that was directly at him or at Yusuke.

Through the doorway into the kitchen, Sojiro has gone still. He stares at Yusuke for a long, intense moment, then turns his attention to his son.

“You’re up,” Sojiro says from the kitchen, and Akira can hear the click of him turning the stovetop off. “Looks like its time for an explanation of what the hell you kids did last night and how the bloody wheelchair got involved.”

He’s calm and steady, but that tone of voice spells trouble. Akira feels a spike of anxiety. He doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do to fix this situation. Shiho follows Sojiro into the living room.

In the kitchen, Futaba jumps off the counter and carries Morgana into the living room with her.

“Your hair looks even worse than usual,” She says, elbowing Akira as she walks past him. It grounds him, a little reminder that his not-quite-sister is here for him.

But before Akira can open his mouth to try to explain, Yusuke speaks up.

“Unbelievable as it might sound, I believe I may be a mermaid. I grew a tail in the pool last night.”

“Shouldn’t it be merman?” Futaba replies, even as Sojiro swears under his breath. That… is not the response Akira was expecting from his father.

“Dad?”

Sojiro walks right out of the living room, heading for the phone. Akira is absolutely baffled; he exchanges confused looks with each of his friends in turn.

“Sojiro?” Futaba calls after him, and stands up to follow him. From the kitchen, Sojiro’s half of his phone call carries.

“Wakaba? . . . No, Futaba’s fine— I need you to get over here. Right now. . . . No, it manages to be _both_. . . . I think I have Sayuri’s kid in my living room. . . . Yes, that Sayuri! What other Sayuris do we know? . . . He has her tune! . . . Okay. Okay. See you then. Hurry.”

The stunned silence carries until Sojiro returns to the group.

“What does my mom have to do with this?” 

“She’ll explain when she gets here,” Sojiro says, sounding distracted. He turns to Akira, face more serious than Akira’s seen it since the time Wakaba spent a week in the hospital.

“Kid. When he changed back, what did you do with the rest of the blood? Is there a puddle of it somewhere?”

Akira hears the confused noise come out of his mouth more than he actually registers making it.

“I’m… going to go wake Ann up,” Shiho says, fleeing the room to do so.

“The— How did you know he was bleeding?” Akira asks, glancing worriedly over at Yusuke.

“Akira, this is important. What did you do with the blood?”

“We had him in a blanket, we threw it away in the train station—“

“Which train station?” Sojiro asks firmly. Mishima blurts out the name of the station from the table, and then yelps when Ryuji elbows him.

“Christ, I need to make some calls,” Sojiro says, turning around and walking right back into the kitchen.

“Dad! What’s going on?” Akira asks, following his father. The rest of his friends hurry to chase after him, but Sojiro is already on the phone.

“Akira, finish breakfast and send everyone home. I only want you, Futaba and Yusuke here when Wakaba gets here.”

“Hell no! He’s our friend too!” Ryuji protests. “Whatever you’re planning, I’m not just going to let you—“

“I’m not going to hurt him!” Sojiro says. “I need you kids to listen to me. We can figure this out but I need this _under control_. Say goodbye and go. home.”

Akira makes eye contact with his dad and holds it, searching for an explanation. After a moment, he turns back to his friends.

“Okay. We’re going to listen to him.”

“Dude—“

“No, I think… I think it’s going to be okay. I’ll keep you guys in the loop, okay? I’ll text you updates.”

“No you won’t, god only knows who has access to your phone logs,” Sojiro says, still on hold with whoever is on the other end of his phone call.

“I have them triple encrypted to keep you and mom out!” Futaba says, smugness carrying through the panicked atmosphere in the room.

“Okay, okay, fine, you can text, just get out of my house. You kids have no idea how serious this is.”

The actual process of getting everyone out of the house is further chaos. Ann is sleepy and doesn’t know what’s going on, Shiho and Ryuji are pissed, Mishima has lost a shoe. Akira can barely follow it. It seems somehow abrupt and drawn-out before he’s promising to keep up-to-date and closing the door.

And then the apartment is desperately quiet.

Yusuke has a distant look in his eye, sitting on the couch petting Morgana with trembling hands. Futaba is standing next to Sojiro, clearly eavesdropping on whatever phone call he’s on now. Akira decides, without much deliberation, that Yusuke needs him more.

“You okay?” Akira asks, sitting next to Yusuke on the couch. He shifts so they’re close enough that their thighs are touching.

“When I woke up this morning, last night… didn’t feel real. Right now, if feels altogether _too_ real,” Yusuke admits, looking at Morgana instead of Akira. Even though Morgana usually doesn’t like new people, he seems to understand that Yusuke is in need of comfort, because he’s not just tolerating the contact but purring and leaning into Yusuke’s hands. Akira makes a mental note to reward the cat with treats later.

“I think I know how you feel,” Akira says, looking over at his father and sister huddled around the phone. “This time yesterday I was hoping you wouldn’t be turned off by my taste in television.”

Yusuke ducks his head and laughs weakly.

“I wasn’t. Not at all.”

Akira leans over to kiss Yusuke on the cheek. Yusuke leans into the contact, and when Akira pulls back slightly, he turns his head and tucks it into Akira’s neck. The position is a little awkward, but Akira ignores that and puts an arm around Yusuke’s shoulders.

“Whatever’s going on with you, I just want you to know that I like you a lot,” Akira says, softly.

“That’s all that I wanted,” Yusuke says.

They stop talking after that, sitting on the couch with Morgana and listening to Sojiro’s muffled, frantic phone calls.

Wakaba has keys to the apartment, so she doesn’t knock when she comes in, just opens the door herself. Sojiro is still on the phone and greets her with a scowl and a wave, but Futaba runs to meet her mother.

“Mom, what’s going on?” She demands, looking one wrong word away from stomping her foot like she used to when she was little.

“Look, sweetie, you know how my job is on a need-to-know basis—“

“No! You are _not_ telling me you knew about mermaids this whole time and didn’t tell me about it!”

“I’ll make it up to you later, Futaba, we have a crisis on our hands.”

Futaba huffs, but Wakaba just pats her daughter on the head and walks into the living room. Akira and Yusuke haven’t untangled themselves, but Morgana jumps from Yusuke’s lap to greet Wakaba. She’s his second-favorite regular visitor, after Ann.

“So this is our new magical friend, huh?” Wakaba says, sitting down on the coffee table across from Yusuke. It isn’t much of a distance, so their knees nearly touch. “What’s the situation?”

“We… broke into the school pool last night. Yusuke—“ Akira starts.

“Turned into a _mermaid_ ,” Futaba finishes, clearly still annoyed with her mother.

“Can I have some more details? Tail pattern? Time frame? You’re clearly back in human form now, when did that happen?”

“He’s a koi fish!” Futaba says, before Akira can answer. “A really frilly one.”

Wakaba sighs.

“Alright. So Sojiro wasn’t kidding about you being Sayuri’s.”

“Who is Sayuri?” Yusuke asks, something like dread in his voice. Wakaba winces.

“Well, _that’s_ not a good sign. What’s your living situation like?”

“I live with my father. My mother died shortly after I was born, in a car accident. My father told me I had a health condition that would cause serious complications if I were to submerge myself in water.”

“Well, I’m guessing you already know that’s not what’s going on,” Wakaba says, not unkindly.

“Is… Is my father a mermaid as well?”

Wakaba shakes her head.

“I highly doubt that. Your patterning and, if Sojiro heard it correctly, your soul song are both matching to a mermaid that went missing from a local colony eighteen years ago. She was pregnant at the time, so we spent a great deal of time looking for her. We never found anything”

“How do you know that?” Akira asks, when Yusuke looks too stunned to reply. “How do you know about _any_ of this?”

“Akira, this is what I do. I’m part of a government agency that protects people like your friend, who would otherwise be—“

“My mother,” Yusuke suddenly blurts out. “What happened to my mother?”

Wakaba’s already solemn face darkens further.

“I don’t know. But I won’t lie to you. The chances of her being alive are slim.”

Yusuke’s shoulders slump and he stares down at the floor, silent.

“How local is this local colony?” Akira asks, realization slowly dawning on him. Leblanc’s location is oddly close to the nearby river, even though it really isn’t the best place for foot traffic.

Wakaba is silent for a long moment, then sighs.

“Why don’t I show you?”


	11. Yusuke

When Yusuke left the house yesterday, he hadn’t really expected the amount of nudity the next 36 hours would contain.

Akira’s spare swimsuit was abandoned in shreds at the pool, a sacrifice to Yusuke’s transformation. They’d decided not to repeat the experience for the trip to the river, so he’s wearing a towel carefully fastened into a skirt instead.

Akira did the tying, which was an embarrassing affair. Yusuke desperately needs to get the involuntary singing under control, especially given the way Wakaba had looked at him when they came out of the bathroom.

He expects a car ride. Instead, they say goodbye to Sojiro (who is still on the phone) and start walking.

“Mother. There were mermaids walking distance from Akira’s this whole time and you never even _mentioned_ it?” Futaba protests when Wakaba heads behind the cafe instead of towards the small parking lot.

Yusuke tunes out the argument that Futaba has been having with her mother pretty much since Wakaba arrived. He doesn’t really have the brain space for it right now.

What are they going to find at the river? Does he have a family there?

Yusuke trips over a rock in the path, but Akira grabs and steadies him before he can fall.

“Hey. You alright?”

It feels like they’ve been having this conversation on repeat since last night. Yusuke keeps waiting for Akira to get tired of putting up with the nightmare that is his feelings right now, but it seems like he never does.

“I don’t know,” Yusuke says, honestly.

Akira takes his hand and gives it a squeeze.

“Whatever you need, I’m here.”

Before he can question himself, Yusuke leans in and kisses Akira. Akira makes a soft sound of surprise, which adds nicely to the song in Yusuke’s throat.

“You are the only thing keeping me steady,” Yusuke admits, and smiles at the way Akira’s cheeks flush.

“Oh. Alright then.”

“If you two are done making out, we have mermaids to meet!” Futaba calls from up ahead.

Akira snorts a laugh and ducks his head.  It's far more endearing than it has any right to be.

"We should catch up," Akira says, gesturing in the direction of Futaba and her mother.  Yusuke nods in agreement and lets himself be lead away by the hand.

In the end, the river is less than five minutes' walk from Leblanc.  Futaba and Akira both seem bothered by this, although Futaba much more loudly so.  Yusuke expected to feel something when he got to the edge of the water, but until they hear musical voices, he doesn't feel anything but anxiety.

It isn't singing, not the way Yusuke continually finds himself singing to Akira.  It's softer, almost a hum, carrying a sense of contentment and affection.  It also isn't Yusuke's tune.  It isn’t even a _single_ tune. It’s two.

Wakaba holds up a hand to stop them before they can stumble out onto the riverbank.

“Wait.”

Yusuke frowns. He wants to see his kinsfolk.

“Why?” Akira asks, looking at Wakaba uneasily. He’s still holding Yusuke’s hand, almost protectively, but nobody has commented on it.

Wakaba listens silently to the humming for a long moment, then sighs.

“Rise and Nanako. Could do worse, for a first meeting.”

“Who?” Futaba demands. “Are those your coworkers or—“

“They’re the ones singing.”

“Do they speak Japanese? Those sound like regular Japanese names, why don’t they have cool mermaid names?”

“We pick names for them, to avoid calling them by numbers or colors. It’s humanizing.”

“I want to meet them,” Yusuke cuts in, before this can turn into round three of Isshiki family arguing.

“Well, I’m not sure if ‘meet’ is the right word…” Wakaba says, but Akira is having none of it. He gives Yusuke’s hand a little squeeze and makes brief eye contact once he has Yusuke’s attention.

Yusuke nods.

They take off running for the water.

“Dammit! Kids!” Wakaba calls after them, but from the sound of Futaba’s laughter, she’s lost control of all three of them.

They find the mermaids easily enough, once they’ve shaken off their chaperone for the moment. It isn’t what Yusuke expected, though now that he’s actually seeing them, he’s not sure _what_ he was expecting.

The two mermaids are nestled into a cluster of rocks, their tails dipping down into the water. There’s a clear age difference— the older of the two is a young adult and the other one is probably eight or nine. The adult has a soft pink tail with an accent of bright yellow, while the child is colored like a goldfish. They’re both dressed like human girls at the beach, in colorful swimsuit tops adorned with nylon lace and flowers patterns.

The adult is combing the child’s hair, and they’re humming to each other. Yusuke feels like he can’t breathe.

Wakaba catches up just as the mermaids notice them.

The little girl yelps and crawls back over the rocks, disappearing into the deeper parts of the river. The adult, however, sets her comb down and watches them.

“Good morning, Rise,” Wakaba says with a sigh. The mermaid waves and says something, or maybe just makes a sound. It isn’t in Japanese, and it doesn’t sound like English either, so Yusuke is absolutely lost on translating it. There’s no fear to her, just curiousity.

“She’s so pretty…” Futaba says, apparently stunned out of her attitude for the moment.

“Is she wearing a bikini top?” Akira asks, baffled.

Wakaba sighs. Do all of the adults in Akira’s life sigh this much?

“Yes, she is. We can’t figure out where she’s getting them. All the others weave reeds for clothing. Either one of the researchers is giving her those or her mate is stealing them for her.”

Yusuke swallows at the mention of mates, and thinks of the little girl who’d slipped away into the water. He’s pretty sure Wakaba called her Nanako. Is this the relationship he could have had with his own mother? Would they have hummed songs to each other amongst the rocks.

“Was that her daughter?” Yusuke asks.

“No, they’d have the same song if they were mother and daughter. A relative of her mate’s, I think. They spend a lot of time together.”

“Can I— Can I speak with her?”

“You’re welcome to try. We’re still pretty unclear on how much of their language is learned and how much is instinctive—“

Yusuke is halfway to the water before Wakaba even finishes speaking.

For the second time in as many days, Akira stands by him while his body twists and shifts.

At least this time, he’s expecting it.


	12. Akira

Akira watches the water foam around Yusuke, but even the knowledge of what’s about to happen doesn’t prepare him for the reality.

Yusuke is _beautiful_. The colors of his tail are distinctive and vibrant in the midday sun, almost like a painting. Akira swallows hard and forces himself to resist the urge to touch. Now is not the time.

The last of the bubbles fade away and Yusuke sighs happily, stretching out in the shallow water. He seems to do better at keeping his head this time, looking over at Akira with clear eyes. Last night he’d seemed dazed, but apparently repetition is key.

They don’t have time to share a moment. Rise has been watching with the same rapt attention as Akira, and she makes her presence known vocally. The noises she’s making are clearly words, even if Akira can’t make out what she’s saying. Merfolk language is chirpy and melodic, or at least it is in Rise’s voice.

Yusuke shows no sign of recognition.

“I— I don’t know what you’re saying,” Yusuke says. His own voice has taken on that familiar undercurrent of song, but he’s still definitely speaking Japanese.

Rise frowns and makes a small noise of frustration. After a moment of the two of them staring at each other, she speaks again.

“Do a trick!” It’s Japanese, this time, but poorly pronounced with odd gaps between syllables. Yusuke looks even more baffled.

“A trick?”

Rise chirps and nods, but Wakaba interrupts before the interaction can go any further.

“God, not this again. Kids, she has no idea what you’re saying.”

Yusuke and Akira both look over at her. Akira can’t read Yusuke’s blank expression, which probably isn’t a good sign.

“We rescued Rise from a collector. That’s the only Japanese she knows, and she uses it for everything.”

As if to prove Wakaba’s point, Rise repeats her phrase again, tugging irritably on Yusuke’s sleeve. They probably should have taken him out of his clothes before letting him transform, but its a little late for that.

“You’ve been studying them, haven’t you? How much of their language do you know?” Akira asks, watching Yusuke and Rise frown at each other out of the corner of his eye.

“I can’t believe you _speak mermaid_ and you never told me,” Futaba complains from the riverbank. Her mother sighs.

“Almost none. Its like the whole language is encrypted songs. Even the computers can barely get any meaning out of it. We were operating under the assumption that there’s some kind of magic inherent to them that was translating it, but if Yusuke can’t understand it, we’re going to have to reevaluate that theory.”

“Then how will I speak to them?” Yusuke asks, and Akira was right to worry about his blank expression. He sounds more upset than Akira has ever heard him. “They knew my mother! They could—“

He swallows and stares down into the water.

“They could be my family, and I can’t even understand their words?”

This could not possibly be going worse. Akira reaches out to grab Yusuke’s hand, but Yusuke doesn’t return the grip. His hands are shaking.

Rise makes a soft, concerned sound from Yusuke’s other side. Akira looks over to her and finds that she’s looking at his friend with some of the same distress that’s on Yusuke’s face. Wakaba said she was rescued from a collector. How much of this situation does she understand, and how much of her sympathy comes from shared experiences?

“Did she speak their language when you brought her here?” Akira asks, suddenly frantic for a way to fix this for Yusuke.

“Yes,” Wakaba says, her tone regretful. “How well, we don’t know, but one of the matrons took her in right away, and they didn’t seem to have any trouble understanding each other.”

Yusuke finally returns Akira’s grip on his hand, squeezing tightly as he takes a shaky breath.

Rise pats Yusuke’s other arm consolingly, then, after a moment’s thought, turns her head to call out something in chirpy mermaid language.

The response is almost immediate. A distant voice returns the call, this one deeper and slower. From somewhere down the river, there’s a loud splash.

Rise chirps her delight and smiles at Yusuke.

“Oh, here we go,” Wakaba mutters, then speaks up to address the group as a whole. “She’s called her mate. He’s… the helpful sort. She probably thinks he’ll solve the problem.”

“Will I be able to understand _him_?” Yusuke asks, desperation rich in his voice.

“I wish I could say you will, but—“

Another head comes up out of the water.

The merman has silvery hair, and the scales on his face match the color. Under the water, Akira can make out a reflective flash, like a school of minnows.

Rise catches his eye and _sings_.

Akira thought the merfolk language sounded musical. Hell, he thought Yusuke’s _voice_ sounded musical, when he was in the water like he is. This is something else. It’s like when Yusuke sings at him, but drawn out, louder and warmer. It feels intentional.

The newcomer returns the gesture, and Akira realizes that his tune is different from Rise’s, which is different from Yusuke’s.

Earlier, Wakaba mentioned soul songs. Akira thinks he knows what she meant now.

“Well, kids. Meet Souji.”

“He’s _sparkly_ , holy shit,” Futaba says.

The two merfolk tuck their heads together and nuzzle each other briefly, then separate to look at Yusuke. Rise talks at a mile a minute, and even with the language barrier, Akira can tell she’s explaining the situation.

Souji doesn’t seem to talk much, listening and watching instead. He keeps glancing over at Akira and their friends on the riverbank. If Wakaba really works with them regularly, then he probably knows her.

After Rise is done with her explanation, Souji gives Yusuke another once-over, then nods and says something to his mate. Rise seems to be in agreement with what he’s saying, because she pats Yusuke’s arm before vanishing under the water. It’s only a moment before Souji is gone as well.

And then they’re alone, Yusuke no more connected to his family than he was when they started.

The silence is heavy.


	13. Yusuke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> content warning: there is a brief mention of sexual assault in this chapter

Yusuke feels numb.

The past 24 hours were hard enough to take in, but this last punch has fully exhausted his ability to process the situation.

Whatever Madarame has done, for whatever reasons, it has cut him off from others who are like him. He cannot speak to them. Its possible that he never will.

Akira suggests leaving the water, and Yusuke doesn't put up a fight. He lays out on the riverbed to let the sun dry him off. Akira stays within his orbit the whole time, touching his shoulders and hands as Yusuke hauls himself out of the water. It's a very different course of action without legs.

Akira still doesn't leave him once he's settled, sitting with his thigh touching Yusuke's hip. Is it still a hip if it connects his spine to a tail, not legs? Either way, Yusuke curls around him like a child with a stuffed animal, managing enough of a curve that the frills of his tail are in Akira's lap. Akira runs the back of his fingers over them. Yusuke can barely feel it, but its soothing nonetheless.

"If you're going to sit with him like that, Akira, you're going to need a mask," Wakaba interrupts them.

"A mask? He's not _sick_ , is he?" Futaba asks. She's following her mother around like a duckling at this point, pestering her with mermaid questions Yusuke is too tired to deal with himself.

"He's going to bleed when he gets his legs back, and you want to head that off at the pass. Mermaid blood is no joke."

Yusuke ignores the conversation, focusing on the rhythmic drag of Akira's fingers over his tail.

"What does mermaid blood do?" Akira asks. He sounds concerned, but his hand doesn't stop moving, so Yusuke doesn't try to pull himself out of the trance he's sinking into.

"It has a spellbinding effect. Being around it compels you to pay attention to it, makes you fixate."

Yusuke remembers the strangers on train, the bizarre behavior of his friends when they were trying to get _off_ the train.

"I'm already giving Yusuke my full attention," Akira says. Yusuke hums softly, not realizing he's using his tune again until he actually hears himself.

"It's more than that. You guys got away clear the last time you were exposed because it only focused you in on helping a friend, but its seriously dangerous stuff. There's a black market of people using it as a date rape drug or to force people into cults."

Yusuke pulls his attention away from Akira's hands.

"Are you serious?"

"Entirely. That's why Sojiro's on the phone back at the cafe. It isn't your fault because you didn't know, but you left a blanket soaked in a dangerous magical substance in the middle of a crowded train station."

Akira swears under his breath.

"Is it-- a scent thing? Why the masks?"

Yusuke turns his head to look at Wakaba and Futaba. Wakaba is unlatching a plastic, weatherproofed box that's nailed to a nearby tree.

"Just being around it is enough. The masks are soaked in a mixture of crushed herbs, fermented fish blood, sake, and purified salt."

"Ew, what? Does that even help?" Futaba asks, gingerly accepting a mask from her mother. She's holding it away from her like it smells absolutely foul.

"We used to have to drink it. Be grateful someone figured out breathing it in was enough, it gave everyone the runs."

Futaba makes a face, then reluctantly put on the mask. Wakaba does the same with her own mask before bringing Akira a third. Akira accepts it as though afraid it might bite him; from here, Yusuke can smell it, so he doesn't blame him.

"Am I going to bleed like that every time I transform?"

"Yup. We're still not sure how much is a defense mechanism and how much is just the violence involved in tearing your tail in half."

"Defense mechanism?"

"People have a hard time _not_ helping someone covered in mermaid's blood. It's probably how the whole thing got started, honestly. A beached mermaid isn't exactly in the best situation, but things start to look up if she looks like a human woman and there's magic forcing everyone nearby to pay attention to her. Much easier to get help that way."

"That... makes a lot of sense, actually," Akira admits. "Is there a way to make it hurt less?"

Oh. The sentiment there makes Yusuke's heart flutter a little. Everyone ignores the little song that comes from his chest, although it does look like Akira blushes a little when it happens.

"Not that I know of. Sorry, but parts of this are always going to suck."

Yusuke finds he isn't surprised.


	14. Akira

Sojiro is waiting for them when they get back. He looked agitated when they left, but that was nothing on how he looks now. He has his glasses set on the kitchen counter so he can rub the bridge of his nose.

“Dad?”

“Good, you’re home. We have a situation.”

Akira thinks that goes without saying. Yusuke is wrapped in a towel and not speaking, and the smell of fermented fish and sake is still burning the back of Akira’s throat. He’s already making a mental list of things they’re going to have to pick up from the corner store if this all continues, with “iron supplements” at the top. If Yusuke keeps bleeding like that, he’s going to need them.

“Yeah, what else is new?” Futaba says, sarcastically. Wakaba doesn’t seem to think this is a laughing matter, however.

“Did they get all the blood out of the damned train station?” She asks.

“That’s not the problem. Looks like one of the janitors got into a fight with a commuter, but the police handled it even before our guys got there. We have a bigger problem.”

“How big?” Wakaba asks, dread rich in her voice.

“Kid, is your last name Madarame?”

Yusuke looks up, Sojiro’s words piercing the miasma of depression. He nods.

“Well. Shit. Your dad put in a missing person report for you this morning.”

Yusuke goes starkly pale.

“He’s been gone less than 24 hours!” Akira protests.

“I know, but the police are under the impression he has type one diabetes. Normally they’d wait a few days before doing anything for someone your age, but if there’s a medical concern…”

“Shit,” Wakaba says, with feeling.

“I’m not diabetic,” Yusuke protests. He sounds almost confused.

“Didn’t think you were. But that’s what Madarame told them, and they believed him. You need to stay out of sight until we figure out what to do.”

“Does he know about the other kids? If the police show up at their houses, they need to know what’s going on,” Wakaba says.

“You mean my friends?” Akira asks. “Last night was the first time Yusuke hung out with us outside of school, I don’t think he’d know us unless Yusuke told him our names. Yusuke?”

Yusuke shakes his head.

“Okay, then they’re probably not a risk. Does he know about Leblanc, or you, Akira?” Wakaba asks.

“No. I keep things that make me happy as far from his judgement as possible,” Yusuke says, like it should be obvious. Akira swallows around the lump in his throat and gently takes Yusuke’s hand.

“Alright, that’ll help. They won’t show up here,” Sojiro says, finally putting his glasses back on. “I need you kids to be _careful_ about this. We’ve got as much to worry about from the human side of things as we do from the merfolk side now.”

“I’ll go text Ryuji before he blabs,” Futaba says, stretching before she hurries off into the guest room. Akira isn’t sure if she’s planning to use her actual phone or her backup laptop.

“Highest level encryption!” Wakaba calls after her daughter.

“Got it!”

“How are you two holding up?” Sojiro turns to Akira and Yusuke, wearily concerned. Akira remembers this tone from when they’d been involved in Kamoshida’s court case. There’s an unspoken ‘I’m too old for this’ in there.

Yusuke doesn’t say a word. Akira takes that as an answer, and he suspects his father does as well.

“I think we need a break,” Akira says, squeezing Yusuke’s hand.

“Alright. Why don’t you go take a nap? You were up late last night, and you’re going to need your wits about you if we’re going to solve this.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Akira says, and, after a moment’s hesitation, lets go of Yusuke’s hand to give his father a hug. Sojiro makes a soft noise of surprise, but awkwardly returns the gesture.

“Go on, then.”

Yusuke follows Akira numbly into his bedroom and sits down on the bed, staring at the far wall. Akira can tell he isn’t examining the posters.

“Yusuke?” Akira asks, sitting down next to him. “How are you doing?”

Yusuke stares at the wall for another long moment, then sighs and rests his head on Akira’s shoulder. His hair is still damp from the river.

“I feel as though someone has cut the threads holding my life together. All sense of normalcy has gone.”

“It’s a lot to take in, huh?” Akira says, softly.

“When I was a child, I used to hope that I would someday meet my mother’s family. Now, even that has been taken from me. I can’t understand them. I’ve lost the things I thought I had and the things I had hoped for in one fell swoop.”

Akira turns his head to press a kiss to the top of Yusuke’s head.

“I know it isn’t much by way of consolation, but you still have us. I’m not going anywhere.”

Yusuke lifts his head from Akira’s shoulder to look him in the eye.

“May I be honest for a moment?” He asks. Akira nods.

“I’ve… _admired_ you since we first met. Your kindness, your boldness in the face of adversity, your perseverance… You’ve been an inspiration to me, no matter what was happening in my life. The decision to join you and your friends at the pool was my first act of true bravery in memory, and in spite of everything, I don’t regret it.”

Akira’s heart flutters as Yusuke leans in closer, pressing their foreheads together.

“You gave me that strength, and I love you for it.”

Akira kisses him. Yusuke’s hands come up to cup his face, holding him like something unspeakably precious.

They break away and just _breathe_ for a moment. Yusuke’s pupils are wide and dark, and when Akira smiles at him, the song begins, so deep and real that it feels like its touching Akira’s soul.

“Do you want to make out?” Akira blurts out, and it feels so pedestrian and inane next to what Yusuke said, but Yusuke doesn’t seem to mind.

He just nods.


	15. Yusuke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mild emetophobia warning for this chapter!

Akira sleeps for longer than Yusuke does. This is becoming a pattern, and Yusuke is pretty sure it’s because other people can sleep through muffled voices from behind a door.

Yusuke can’t.

He carefully untangles himself from Akira, who looks too peaceful to willingly disturb. Before he leaves, Yusuke gently brushes Akira’s unruly bangs out of his face. They immediately fall back into his eyes, and Yusuke smiles.

It’s been a long time since he painted anything, with Madarame becoming more and more paranoid about his workshop as Yusuke got older. But right now, all he wants to do is put this boy’s image to canvas.

Yusuke forces himself to leave the room. The voices outside the sanctuary of Akira’s bedroom are almost certainly relevant to his current situation, so it’d be irresponsible to stay here. Even if he wants to.

From the doorway out of Akira’s room, Yusuke can see every other occupant of the apartment. Wakaba has taken over Sojiro’s previous position by the phone, while Sojiro wearily types away on a laptop that looks like it was plucked right out of a spy movie. Futaba is curled up on the living room couch, texting rapidly.

“Suzuki-san says the alias most likely to belong to Madarame is ‘golden shogun’,” Wakaba says, covering the mouthpiece of the phone. Sojiro grunts in confirmation and types something into the computer.

“What an obnoxious name,” Futaba comments idly from the next room. She doesn’t even look up from her phone.

“My father has an alias?” Yusuke asks, joining the adults in the kitchen.

“Possibly. His name came up during an investigation fifteen years ago, but he was dismissed due to lack of evidence. I’d say you’re _plenty_ of evidence, kid,” Wakaba says, sighing.

Yusuke peeks over Sojiro’s shoulder to look at the screen. Sojiro is completely wrapped up in his reading, and doesn’t even acknowledge that Yusuke is there. He might not even have noticed him walk into the room.

`Tatsumi Port Island : 10/4 Raid (id number: 1300104M)`

` **List of Contraband Seized** `

` approx. eight (8) gallons of mermaid blood in disposable water bottles, labeled ‘wheel of fortune’ (id: 1300104M-21, see POI file: Sakaki, Takaya)`   
`twelve (12) one-ounce bottles of ground mermaid bones, labeled ‘electric fire’ (id: 1300104M-44, alias unmatched)`   
`approx. two (2) yards of tanned kappa skin, labeled ‘hanged man’ (id: 1300104M-05, see POI file: Yoshino, Chidori)`   
`one (1) gallon of purified salt, labeled ‘black ocean’ (id: 1300104M-62, alias unmatched)`   
`three (3) crates of dried kelpie hair, labeled ‘hierophant moon’ (id: 1300104M-13, see POI file: Aragaki, Shinjiro)`   
`one (1) complete mermaid corpse, drained and packed in salt, labeled ‘golden shogun’ (id: 1300104M-44, alias unmatched)`

Yusuke abruptly stops reading. His heart is pounding in his ears.

“You said… his alias was Golden Shogun? This one?” he leans over Sojiro’s shoulder to touch the screen, pointing at the last entry he’d read. “The man buying a _body_?”

Sojiro startles. It looks like he really didn’t notice Yusuke come in.

“Yusuke, you shouldn’t be looking at that—“

“Or was he _selling_ a body?”

“Oh, _shit_ , you don’t think—“ Futaba’s voice comes from the other room.

“Wakaba has the office sending us the photos from the investigation. It might not be your mother,” Sojiro says to cut her off, but even he doesn’t sound like he believes it.

_drained and packed in salt_

“I think I’m going to throw up,” Yusuke manages to force out, his voice shaking. Futaba springs from the couch, hurrying into the kitchen.

“Bathroom’s this way!” she says, grabbing Yusuke by the elbow and dragging him away. It’s good that she’s so quick, because Yusuke really does throw up almost as soon as she’s got him in there. Even once he’s done, he stays on the bathroom floor, his whole body shaking as he leans over the toilet.

_Mom._

“He killed her. He killed my mother and _sold her body_.”

“I’m— I’m gonna get Akira,” Futaba says, hurrying out of the room. “You stay right there!”

It isn’t actually Akira who comes in, though. Sojiro’s voice is the next one Yusuke hears from the doorway.

“I was hoping to find a gentler way of letting you know,” Sojiro sighs. “I’m sorry.”

Yusuke grabs a square of toilet paper to wipe his mouth, his throat too tight for words.

“We won’t know for sure it’s her until Wakaba gets the pictures, but I won’t ask you to look at them. Let the adults handle that much, at least.”

Yusuke nods, but still doesn’t make any effort to stand up.

“Wakaba’s Tatsumi Port Island contact is trying to reach their inside source from the raid. He might be able to get us what we need to put Madarame away for a long time.”

Right now, prison sounds too good for Yusuke’s father. He finally forces himself to his feet. His eyes sting and his throat burns, but it doesn’t even matter. He’s going to do something about this. He doesn’t know what, but he’s going to do _something_.

“Sakura-san. I… thank you, but I don’t think that’s enough to make me feel better. Not right now.”

Sojiro nods, putting a hand on the back of his neck.

“You know, I didn’t really think it would. Kind of a long shot.”

“Yusuke!”

And there’s Akira, still ruffled from bed and not even wearing his glasses. Futaba is just behind him, visibly nervous.

“Akira—“

Yusuke is pulled into a hug before he can even begin a sentence. He doesn’t know how much Futaba would have been able to explain in the past minute and a half, but it can’t have been much. Akira doesn’t seem to be bothered by a lack of specifics.

He’s just here for Yusuke, no matter what horrible thing they’ve discovered.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is @[xenosaurus](http://xenosaurus.tumblr.com)


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